Justin Atkinson has extra drive to fulfil his pro baseball dream

Elliott Pap, The Vancouver Sun07.23.2013

Justin Atkinson of the Vancouver Canadians is getting used to playing the hot corner in the Northwest League, but is still trying to figure out the best corners to take and avoid as he commutes from Surrey to Vancouver's Nat Bailey Stadium for home games and practises.

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Vancouver Canadians third baseman Justin Atkinson is taking a different road to professional baseball than most of his teammates. His road is the East-West Connector, also known as Highway 91.

As a local lad from Surrey, Atkinson lives at home when the C’s are at home. So he is a commuter ballplayer, driving daily to Nat Bailey Stadium in his 2008 Dodge Avenger and fighting the Lower Mainland traffic like everyone else.

Obviously he has more to worry about than just hitting the curve ball against Northwest League Single-A pitchers. He has to worry about which bridge to take, how much travel time to leave and, most of all, what to do after a Friday ‘Nooner at The Nat’ when people are fleeing the city at rush hour.

“The Port Mann is a toll bridge and the Pattullo is getting closed on weekends (for repairs),” Atkinson noted. “So I’m taking the connector now. Usually it takes me a half-hour to 40 minutes to come in. But going home after the noon games on a weekday, it’s pretty bad. I remember one time I tried to go on the Pattullo and it was backed up through New West. So I just don’t do that anymore.”

It was Atkinson’s choice to live at home. He is the youngest player on the C’s — he turns 20 Wednesday — and thought it would be cool to see more of mom and dad and younger brother Jordan than he would staying with billets somewhere near Nat Bailey.

Atkinson, a 26th-round selection of the Toronto Blue Jays in 2011, spent last season in West Virginia with Bluefield of the rookie Appalachian League.

“I hadn’t seen my family in a while so I basically asked the Blue Jays if it was OK if I could live at home and they said it was no problem,” Atkinson explained Monday as the C’s closed out the NWL’s first half with a 4-2 victory the Eugene Emeralds. “I got my same room and everything. It’s pretty messy right now. Usually I keep it pretty clean but since I’m always on the road, I’m getting a little lazy and not putting my laundry away. Mom is getting on me for that.”

The one thing Atkinson didn’t figure was the price of gas this summer. He is paying for it himself.

“It’s a buck-fifty a litre,” he grunted. “The team pays me my paycheque and the paycheque goes towards the gas.”

Happily the home cooking makes up for it.

Meanwhile, on the field, Atkinson appears to be making a successful transition from first base to third. C’s manager Clayton McCullough opted to move him there while rotating his two best power hitters – Jordan Leyland and L.B. Dantzler – at first.

“Clayton told me ‘do you want to try third? I’ll try you at third’ so I went over there and stuck,” said Atkinson, who was drafted as a shortstop. “We had Jordan and L.B. and myself all at first base. Now Jordan plays some in left field, L.B. is at first and I guess it just kind of worked out from there.

“My first game at third was a little nerve-racking because I hadn’t played there in a while. It gets easier and easier each game.”

McCullough seems happy with the experiment. In fact, he is tickled pink.

“Watching Justin play third base has been great,” said McCullough. “He’s kind of a natural over there. I think he can stay there and play third. I wouldn’t say it’s a surprise because he’s a talented kid. It’s been terrific to see just how quickly and easily he’s taken to it. It gives him some versatility personally and it gives the organization a little flexibility with him to make sure he gets his at-bats.”

On Monday, Atkinson went 3-for-4 with a double and finished the first half hitting .256 in 125 official trips to the dish.

C-NOTES: The C’s finished the first half with a 22-16 record ... Following the game, first baseman/left-fielder Jordan Leyland (who was hitting .341) and catcher Dan Klein were called up to the full-season Single-A Lansing Lugnuts of the Midwest League.

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Justin Atkinson has extra drive to fulfil his pro baseball dream

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